Truemors
- On Tuesday, August 26, 1975, Jack Mason was physically attacked at a School Board meeting by a school employee. The Interim School Superintendent, Donald D. Bevis, was quoted in the September 3, 1975 Minneapolis Tribune saying, "There was no question that the attack was one sided--there was no attack by Mason." The official who attacked Jack was suspended without pay for 30 days as a result.
- Jack Mason is the late husband of park commissioner Vivian Mason.
- In 1975, now park commissioner Walt Dziedzic was a Minneapolis police officer heavily involved in politics, receiving the patronage of Mayor Al Hofstede after helping him get elected in 1972.
- On August 18, 2004, at the public meeting of the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board, Walt Dziedzic made the following statements in response to questions posed in a civil manner by commissioners Vivian Mason and Annie Young: (this video clip starts at the asterisk * in transcipt below):
Commissioner Walt Dziedzic: I have been [an] elected official since 1977, and in all that time, been through a lot of holy hell. I've never seen elected officials treat the staff as bad as I saw * them being treated this evening. And I think that BS gotta stop! Because from now on, when I see elected officials pick on staff, I'll tell you what, I'm gonna get loud. [reaches forward and deliberately turns off his microphone] I'll tell you right now, I'm gonna get real loud! [shouting] Because I remember a fistfight that occurred at a Park Board...at a School Board meeting, and that could happen [bangs fist twice on the table] right here!
Commissioner Berry Graves: Are you threatening people, Walter?
Commissioner Dziedzic: [shouting] I'm not threatening anybody!
Berry Graves: Well then why are you raising ...[unintelligible]
Dziedzic: [shouting] I'm stating a fact! ...
President John Olson: All right, all right...
Dziedzic: [shouting louder] I'm stating a fact! ...
Olson: That's enough! ...
Dziedzic: Because I'm sick and tired of being ... [unintelligible]
Members of the public in the audience were shocked and frightened by Dziedzic's angry, threatening outburst. Imagine how commissioner Vivian Mason felt, whose husband had been the victim of the assualt that Dziedzic was referring to, and how commissioner Annie Young felt, who knew the story of that assualt. Members of the public were unaware of that history, but were still in fear and considering whether to dial 911 or not.
If this behavior constitutes a threat, and I believe it does, then it is a felony terroristic threat under Minnesota state laws. Yet Dziedzic was not only absolved of any crime or misbehavior by a "kangaroo court" known as the Park Board Standards and Conduct Committee, he would not even make a simple apology to Mason.
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